Damian Thompson is Editor of Telegraph Blogs and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph. He was once described by The Church Times as a "blood-crazed ferret". He is on Twitter as HolySmoke. His latest book is The Fix: How addiction is taking over your world. He also writes about classical music for The Spectator.

Gay activists take public money to stage Transsexual Jesus play, moan about homophobia

The Glasgay! arts festival is staging a play called Jesus, Queen of Heaven, in which Christ is a man who wants to become a woman. As soon as I read about it, I thought: "I bet some public money has gone into that". But even I was taken aback when I visited the festival website:

If there's one thing gay activists love, it's public money. Though, as you can see, they're only too thrilled to pick up a bit of commercial sponsorship along the way.

Unsurprisingly, Jesus, Queen of Heaven has provoked protests from Catholics (who are probably unaware that they're subsidising this venture through income tax, council tax, lottery tickets etc). They have protested outside the Tron Theatre. One banner reads "Jesus, King of Kings, not Queen of Heaven"; another says "God: My Son is not a Pervert". That last message is unpleasant – but, hey, "Glasgay! supports the right of freedom of expression", we're told. Unless, of course, it decides that it's being subjected to "homophobia" by the Christians it has upset. They are the ones being "provocative", it seems.

About 300 protesters held a candlelit protest outside a Glasgow theatre over the staging of a play which portrays Jesus as a transsexual.

The protest was held outside the Tron Theatre, where Jesus Queen of Heaven, in which Christ is a man who wants to become a woman, is being staged.

It is part of the Glasgay! arts festival, a celebration of Scotland's gay, bi-sexual and transsexual culture.

Festival organisers said it had not intended to incite or offend anyone.

The Christian protesters gathered outside the theatre ahead of the opening night of the production on Tuesday.

Jesus Queen of Heaven, which runs until Saturday, is written and performed by transsexual playwright Jo Clifford.

The demonstrators sang hymns and waved placards.

One read: "Jesus, King of Kings, Not Queen of Heaven."

Another said: "God: My Son Is Not A Pervert."

Festival organisers described the banners as "fairly provocative" and said they could be viewed as inciting homophobia.

Glasgay! producer Steven Thomson said: "Jesus Queen of Heaven is a literary work of fiction exploring the artists own personal journey of faith as a transgendered person.

"Glasgay! supports the right to freedom of expression and offers audiences a diverse view of LGBT life.

"This work is not intended to incite or offend anyone of any belief system, however, we respect your right to disagree with that opinion.

He added: "We welcome genuinely interested audience members who wish to understand the artistic intention behind this work."

Glasgay! is described as "Scotland's annual celebration of queer culture" and is funded by the Scottish Arts Council, Event Scotland, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau and Glasgow City Council.

Can you spot a quote there from one of the Christians offended by this event? Me neither. The report is written from the perspective of the Glasgay! organisers. So, in addition to all the other subsidies it enjoys, Jesus, Queen of Heaven also receives indirect support from the licence fee. Why am I not surprised?